Alex Rodriguez 'Can't Wait' To See Yankees Teammates in Chicago

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez answers questions from the media during a news conference after a minor league baseball rehab start with the Trenton Thunder in a game against the Reading Phillies on Aug. 3, 2013, in Trenton, N.J.

Alex Rodriguez announced his plans to fly out to Chicago to play for the New York Yankees Monday night, despite swirling rumors that the third baseman will likely be suspended from Major League Baseball before the game's opening pitch is thrown.

"I'm excited to play Monday," Rodriguez said after he walked all four times at bat while playing for the minor league Trenton Thunder game Saturday night. "I can't wait to see my teammates. I feel like I can help them win."

Rodriguez, who has yet to play in the majors this year as he comes back from hip surgery, made plans to work out this morning before "flying to Chicago" to don his pinstripes and take the field against the Chicago White Sox in Illinois.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi told ESPN today he has the 14-time All Star, two-time Gold Glove and three-time American League MVP penciled in to the team's lineup for Monday's game.

Despite the hopes of the third baseman and his manager, MLB is expected to issue a suspension Monday that will likely extend through the end of the 2014 season, sources told ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

Rodriguez had been negotiating with MLB about the terms of his punishment after the owner of Biogenesis Labs listed him as one of the stars who received drugs from the clinic. He is one of 12 players expected to be handed suspensions Monday, "Outside the Lines" reported Saturday.

"I've been on the field the last 5½ hours. I haven't seen or heard anything," Rodriguez said Saturday night. "My focus has been on baseball. As far as any of that stuff, I'll let those guys take care of what they need to take care of."

Rodriguez's legal team reportedly reached out to the Yankees and union head Michael Weiner contacted MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfriend, but both the team and the league said they were not interested in negotiating, The Associated Press reported.

MLB has already handed down one suspension as a result of the Biogenesis case: the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun, 29, a former rookie of the year and MVP in 2011, was suspended July 22 for the rest of the season -- 65 games -- for using the banned substances he'd denied using for nearly two years. He stands to lose $3 million of a nearly $9 million salary.

According to ESPN, Rodriguez might face a harsher punishment than Braun for his involvement with the now-defunct Miami clinic that admitted doling out performance enhancing drugs to some of baseball's biggest stars. Not only did A-Rod allegedly violate the league's drug policy, but he also reportedly tampered with evidence.